The New Nutanix Prism Central Experience
Updated: Apr 19
Nutanix has unveiled a range of new features in the Prism Central (PC) 2023.1.0.1 release, including an entirely fresh way to work and engage with Prism Central. This revamped experience offers a consolidated overview of all Nutanix services, enabling users to easily install Nutanix applications from a marketplace. Furthermore, users can switch between applications by using a menu context-switching feature.
The New Nutanix Prism Central Experience comes with a range of exciting features, which include:
App-centric management: Providing a unified view of all Nutanix services, known as applications.
Nutanix Marketplace: The introduction of Nutanix Marketplace allows for the effortless installation, discovery, and management of Nutanix applications. For instance, the process of installing Nutanix NDB no longer requires the download of an NDB image and the creation of a VM, as the Nutanix Marketplace permits you to select NDB, which initiates an automatic download and installation.
App Switcher: This is essentially a menu context, that facilitates the swift switching between applications, ensuring that all related configurations are readily accessible in one place.
Now, let me guide you through the process of enabling and utilizing the Nutanix Marketplace:
After upgrading to 2023.1.01 and logging in to PC, the PC dashboard will appear the same as before but with an added feature - the App Switcher. The App Switcher will always contain Infrastructure that includes all the core Nutanix functionality (Compute, Storage, Networking, Hardware ... etc.). Additionally, it will contain Admin Center which enables the management of administrative activities across all Nutanix applications.
To begin using the Marketplace, the first step is to navigate to the Admin Center and activate the feature. However, before doing so, it is crucial to confirm that sufficient resources are available on the PC VM(s), as enabling the Marketplace will require an additional 2GB of memory. Moreover, a Calm license is needed only if the Marketplace will be utilized to provision blueprints for third-party or your custom applications. If the Marketplace will be utilized exclusively for Nutanix applications, no extra licenses are required.
After enabling the Marketplace (which takes a few minutes), a selection of Nutanix applications will be available for deployment by simply clicking on them. The available applications include:
Files
Move
Database Service
Calm
Objects
Foundation Central
Kubernetes Management
For instance, if you wish to install Calm, you can easily do so by clicking on the application in the Marketplace and initiating the deployment process. Within a few minutes, Calm will be installed and ready to use.
Once Calm has been successfully installed, you can access it by clicking on "My Apps," which will display a list of all Nutanix applications that have been installed.
you can also use the App Switcher to access Calm or any other installed applications
Upon accessing Calm, you can explore all the available menu items to initiate the automation of provisioning, scaling, and management of infrastructure and applications across Nutanix and public clouds.
With Calm deployed, third-party applications or your custom application with self-service capabilities can be added as well, which will be listed alongside Nutanix apps in the Marketplace.
The process of installing other Nutanix applications is similar, and once installed, all of the deployed apps will be accessible under My Apps or through the App Switcher menu.
In conclusion, the Nutanix Prism Central 2023.1.0.1 release brings several new features, such as the New Prism Center Experience featuring the App Switcher, Nutanix Marketplace, and app-centric management capabilities, which will enable users to install and manage Nutanix applications from a centralized marketplace. With the Marketplace enabled, users now can quickly and easily deploy Nutanix apps with just a few clicks.